How To Build A Website That Works In China?

Is the biggest and fastest-growing economy in the world too much to resist? We don’t blame you. But before you can make it big in China with your website, there are a few things to keep in mind!

1. Optimize your site for Chinese Search Engines

Google is the most popular engine in most parts of the world, but for China, this is Baidu. Just like Google Baidu has its own, dynamic algorithm which determines your site’s ranking factors. But when it comes to SEO, you will need to optimize your website specifically for Baidu.

One of the ways in which to achieve this, is by committing to keyword localization. For this, you select your navigational, informational and transactional keywords, and submit them for translation with your Language Service Provider (LSP). Need more info? We have provided a link below!

2. Perform market research

Before you can build a website for China, it is important that you know your audience, and how they would prefer to interact with your product. This is why you should start with Market Research. Market research will help you pinpoint the locations where people respond best to your product so you can flesh out your target area and audience.

3. Commit to full-scale website localization

Once you have collected the info you need, you will need to confirm which region follow which linguistic rules so you can create unique content that will speak to you audience. Here, effective multilingual website localization is crucial. For example, in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao, traditional Chinese is used, while on the mainland, simplified Chinese is preferred.

You will need the correct regional language usage as well as fetching cultural references that appeal, but also create a website that is responsive and technically flawless. So, it is essential that you:

• Enlist the services of native, in-country professionals. Next to language
• Use the correct layout and visual content according to local preferences
• Realize that website localization is also a highly technical process and next to the linguistic team, you will also need localization engineers to help achieve the best results for your website as well as for the mobile responsiveness.
• Know that the technical localization also includes domain names and servers, so make sure you explore the best options for you. In doubt? Then your LSP will be all too happy to provide their insights into what would be the best road for you to take.

4. Don’t forget about the Payment options.

If you are planning to set up an ecommerce website, you should remember that your payment menus will also need localizing. Why? Because different countries will prioritize different payment options. For China, for example, the most common payment options are AliPay, WeChat Pay and Union Pay. With millions of active users on these payment channels, promoting those on your Chinese site will make all the difference.

Learn more!

Learn how to apply international SEO to your multilingual web contentGet the scoop on how you should localize your ecommerce platform to make it big in AsiaLearn more about multilingual website translation and localization servicesGet a comprehensive overview on how to perform Salesforce CMS LocalizationRead all about how WordPress websites can benefit from Machine Translation of Machine Translation Post-Editing